Day 2 of the blended #AnnualPhDWorkshop2025 – “Smarter with AI, Deeper with Art” opened with an immersive arts-based session facilitated by @shrirupa Sengupta and Siddharth Chaitanya from Swasti’s Centre for Strategic Communications for Public Health.  Through icebreakers, identity-mapping exercises, and emotion-based movement activities, participants reflected on how their identities and feelings shape their research practice. After sharing personal insights, they were encouraged to express their research questions creatively—using any medium of their choice—supported by short creativity-boosting exercises. This session invited participants to tap into imagination and affect, expanding how research can be understood, felt, and communicated. This was followed by a session on applied theatre for research led by @MPutturaj from the Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru. Meena introduced participants to forms such as image theatre and playback theatre, illustrating how embodied practices can support different stages of the PhD journey. Through hands-on activities, scholars experienced how theatre can deepen inquiry, bring new perspectives to complex questions, and strengthen knowledge mobilisation. The day concluded with a session on storytelling for science communication led by Siddharth Kankaria , Independent Consultant. Participants explored how storytelling humanises science, strengthens connection with audiences, and helps counter misinformation. Through group reflections, they examined themes of lived experience, emotion, vulnerability, and cultural sensitivity—recognising storytelling as a powerful tool for building trust, enhancing comprehension, and communicating research with impact. #AnnualPhDWorkshop #TTNSoAS #IPHBengaluru #ResearchTraining #ResearchEthics #PublicHealth #IPHEvents #PublicHealthEvents